Currently I have the Garmin LVS 34 transducer with Garmin 126SV unit. Instead of mounting the transducer to the trolling motor, I purchased the Seeliite 2.0 transducer pole. I think the separate transducer pole was the best choice for me. I also have the Hummingbird Helix units on my boat and use the side imaging regularly.
Trying to research and decide what units to buy and how to wire/install can be overwhelming, especially with the Livescope. You don't want to spend a bunch of money on electronics that you are not 100% happy with. It takes time to learn these new electronics but they can be very useful and educational tools. My LiveScope is so useful that I'm even going to take it to the Great Slave Lake this summer on a lake trout fishing trip with my dad. For over two years I was hesitant to buy the LiveScope even though I used it on other peoples boats. Now that I've used it on 6 fishing trips on my boat, my only regret is that I didn't buy it sooner. Forward facing sonar is the biggest improvement in fishing technology that I've seen in over 30 years of fishing. For crappie and stripers it will be especially useful. I've watched crappie, stripers, catfish, white bass, walleye, largemouths and smallmouths all eat my lures/bait on my LiveScope at Elephant Butte Lake in the last month. I can even see them eat my lure before I feel the bite on my rod. I can estimate the size of the fish and even guess what species of fish I'm looking at some of the time. The GPS map on my Hummingbird with Lakemaster chip that shows contour lines of where I'm driving my boat is very useful at Powell. Even in muddy and unfamiliar water, I can avoid almost all the unexpected shallow points and islands.
I'm going to test my LiveScope against some stripers at Powell next week. I'll try to take some pictures and post them in a report. You don't need Forward Facing Sonar or any electronics to catch fish but they are fun toys to have. A number or guys that post on Waynes words could catch more fish without using electronic than most anglers that have thousands of dollars of electronic on their boats.
Garmin, Lowrance and Hummingbird all make great electronics and I don't think you could go wrong with any of them. In my opinion, Hummingbirds side imaging and Mega 360 are currently superior to Garmin and Lowrance. Garmin's Livescope is currently superior to Hummingbird or Lowrance with forward facing sonar. The technologies are rapidly improving and I'm sure there will be new superior electronics available in the near future. The most important thing is you know how to use your unit. A guy that spent $200 of a fish finder 10 years ago that know how to use his unit, is still better off than the guy that has $40,000 of electronics on his boat that doesn't know how to use them.
I would be happy provide on water demonstrations of the Garmin Livescope or Hummingbird Helix for anyone interested if it works out for our schedules. I'll be fishing Powell on May 1st to the 5th and likely again on the 20th to 27th. Next week I'll launch at Stateline and probably stop by Bullfrog mid week for gas. Send me a message and I'll send you my phone number.
